


Find your way back

by mckvch (RaiseYourVoice)



Series: Tumblr prompts [40]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Bane Chronicles - Sarah Rees Brennan & Cassandra Clare & Maureen Johnson, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Apologies, Canon Divergence, Confused Simon, Episode: s02e07 How Are Thou Fallen, Feelings Realization, Fix-It of Sorts, Jace is kind of an ass, M/M, Tumblr Prompt, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 09:04:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10806018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaiseYourVoice/pseuds/mckvch
Summary: "Come on, who is it or should I guess? I have a hunch already anyway," Jace kept on prodding for an answer, his expression almost mischievous. "The one you spent the most time with, going by whom you talked about the most, is Santiago."Simon sputtered and he was glad it had been a while since he fed so his cheeks couldn't really flush visibly. He scowled at the triumphant expression on Jace's stupidly handsome face and huffed out an unnecessary breath."I only talked about him because he's an ass. Icomplainedabout him, how does that strike you as me being interested in him? Which, I'm definitely not. He's an ass!"Jace snorted at his admittedly awkward attempt of getting out of this hole but he had clearly already dug it a little too deep to escape. That wouldn't keep Simon from trying to deny it, though. Ignoring a problem could lead to it simply disappearing, right?





	Find your way back

**Author's Note:**

> _Can write a different version of last night's episode?? The episode 2x07 is Valentine's day, Simon has a date with Maia. While he is waiting, he starts to talk to Jace (like the episode). They talk about Raphael. Jace realizes that Simon is in love with him. He warns Maia but she doesn't believe him. In the date, she nominates Raphael and he starts talking about him without brakes. She realizes that Jace was right. They help Simon to organize a plan for celebrate Valentine's day with Raphael._
> 
> Once again an episode I haven't seen but that doesn't keep me from writing about it anyway :P

There were quite a lot of moments in Simon's life when he wondered what the heck he was even doing. This right now was one of those moments. Sure, technically he knew damn well what he was about to do - namely 'going on a date with Maia' - but the _why_ was a question he couldn't quite answer.

Maia was a truly amazing girl with a very similar kind of humour to his. She was a little bit nerdy, absolutely gorgeous and she understood the whole situation with being thrust into a different world and a new life, being turned into a creature you didn't know existed. Maia was basically the perfect girl for him and she had actually agreed to go on a date with him. Simon should be ecstatic and over the moon at this surely once-in-a-lifetime chance of going out with a pretty girl.

He was nervous about the date, sure, but it wasn't the kind of nervousness that came with wanting to impress someone or with the hope of this being the beginning of something more. Part of him wondered if something was wrong with him, if something had screwed with his head that he was unable to fully look forward to the upcoming evening, but Simon also didn't want to dull his own mood even further by indulging in his old habit of _good ol' overthinking_.

Simon settled on a stool by the bar and smiled at Maia when she greeted him from afar, currently occupied pouring some guy a drink. He was way too early, probably making an even weirder impression by showing up over an hour before the agreed time but there was nothing else to do so he had thought why not hang out in the Hunter's Moon until Maia's shift was over. Now he just felt terribly awkward for being way too early and sitting there without anything to do.

After a brief chat with Maia a few minutes later, someone slid onto the stool right next to his and when Simon looked over to realise it was Jace, he couldn't help but groan softly. This was surely his punishment for showing up way too early like an absolute creep!

"Are you desperate enough now that you go to the bar by yourself?" Jace asked with a teasing voice while signalling Maia that he wanted to order something. Simon breathed out an annoyed sigh, more so signal Jace that he was not welcome than anything, before turning around on his stool to face the other properly.

"No. Sorry to disappoint but I'm actually here because I have a date later," he replied, admittedly a little smug, and he wasn't quite sure if he should feel amused or insulted by the honest surprise on Jace's face. Probably the latter but Simon chose not to dwell on it and simply enjoy the fact that he had managed to surprise the cocky Shadowhunter at all.

"Okay, guess I should ask _who's desperate enough to go on a date with you_ then," Jace changed his initial question and Simon couldn't help but roll his eyes because this guy was so full of himself, it wasn't even remotely funny anymore - never had been, actually.

Before he was able to come up with a witty reply, Maia showed up with a simple "I am but what's it to you?", leaning her lower arms on top of the counter while looking at Jace as if he was a pile of dirty laundry that she'd rather not concern herself with.

"A vamp and a wolf? Now that's rare," the Shadowhunter commented before switching the topic to the drinks he wanted to order, despite Maia glaring at him, clearly not amused by his input. Simon shrugged with an apologetic smile when he caught Maia's eyes, even though Jace's behaviour was obviously not his fault but he still felt like apologising for the guy somehow.

"Dating a werewolf, huh?" Jace asked after Maia went back to start on the ordered drinks, apparently not paying attention to them anymore. He popped a few nuts from a bowl on the counter into his mouth, almost staring at Simon who started to feel even more uncomfortable.

"We're going on a date, doesn't meant we are dating but maybe we will - what's it to you?"

"Vamps and wolves usually don't get along. You might be friends now but I doubt it will last. But I'm surprised to see you're moving on," the Shadowhunter said conversationally, his sound more bored than actually interested in the topic. This was probably just something to kill the time. Simon couldn't imagine that Jace actually gave a shit either way.

"Well, yeah. Have to. Maia understands the position I'm in - with the turning and everything," Simon replied with a small shrug, feeling weird talking about this with Jace of all people. The other assessed him with a thoughtful expression, his lower arm leaning onto the top of the bar, body pressed against it.

"Good thinking. Though maybe you should consider dating one of your own kind first."

Simon frowned and he got a little annoyed about the fact that Jace tried to tell him what to do. It was none of his business! And the only vampires he knew hated him - he betrayed the clan, they didn't want him back, so there was no use trying to get to know one of them and find someone to date in the clan. The only person in the clan he knew at this point was Raphael, having spent the most time with the leader since his turning, but...no. That was out of the question. Something Simon didn't even want to think about. Raphael hated him, anyway.

"Well, my own kind hates me, unfortunately. And there is no one in the clan I would want to date, anyway," he replied after a brief pause and frowned a little, his mind still drifting back to the clan leader. He had thought about Raphael quite a bit ever since the betrayal, the thoughts always accompanied by a feeling of guilt (especially at the memory of the disappointment in Raphael's voice), but he was honestly never really sure _why_ the clan leader was on his mind so often. Simon had to admit that he kind of missed the other, even if Raphael was always pretty grumpy and strict, but he had still considered them to be something like friends.

"Your expression tells a different story. Are you sure there is no one?" Jace inquired and Simon was more than surprised that the other was attentive enough to read his expression so well. He still shook his head in denial and glared at the Shadowhunter for good measure, unwilling to admit that he had thought of the clan leader, of all people. Simon didn't want to date Raphael! He only liked the guy well enough to have considered him a friend but dating? Hell no! Raphael was way out of his league anyway and Simon wasn't even sure if the guy did date - he didn't really seem like he would care about wasting his time on something mundane like romance.

"Come on, who is it or should I guess? I have a hunch already anyway," Jace kept on prodding for an answer, his expression almost mischievous. "The one you spent the most time with, going by whom you talked about the most, is Santiago."

Simon sputtered and he was glad it had been a while since he fed so his cheeks couldn't really flush visibly. He scowled at the triumphant expression on Jace's stupidly handsome face and huffed out an unnecessary breath.

"I only talked about him because he's an ass. I _complained_ about him, how does that strike you as me being interested in him? Which, I'm definitely not. He's an ass!"

Jace snorted at his admittedly awkward attempt of getting out of this hole but he had clearly already dug it a little too deep to escape. That wouldn't keep Simon from trying to deny it, though. Ignoring a problem could lead to it simply disappearing, right?

"Yeah, you complained about him a lot but it seemed like that was more of an excuse to mention the guy and talk about him," Jace shrugged nonchalantly.

"How would you even know? You're never really around and you definitely never listen to me even if you're around!"

"Clary and Izzy both told me how you're always going on about him and as far as I know even Luke mentioned something to Clary. If you were trying to be subtle, that doesn't work by talking to various people about it." Jace's grin widened some more and he enjoyed the situation way too much.

Simon frowned and now he actually started to wonder if he did talk about Raphael that much or if Jace was simply exaggerating to get a rise out of him. Admittedly, he had complained to Clary, Luke and even Izzy about the clan leader and hiss strictness when it came to training but he had done that because he had been annoyed not because he wanted to talk about Raphael!

"He is...he _was_ kind of like a friend despite being mean most of the time but that's all. I don't have feelings for him that go beyond friendship, that would be ridiculous!"

"Because he's a guy?"

"No, I don't care about that - I'm pansexual, the gender is literally my least concern - but he's...he's just _Raphael_! He's always grumpy and mean, popping up out of nowhere and scaring the shit out of me, making fun of it afterwards...why would I fall for such a person?!" Simon complained and his eyebrows drew together into another frown because he could immediately come up with quite a lot of good traits as well.

"Sounds like he would actually be quite the good match for you," Jace grinned but was distracted when Maia placed the ordered drinks in front of him with a glare towards the Shadowhunter before offering a friendly, sweet smile to Simon and placing a red drink in front of him as well.

"Uh, I didn't order--"

"It's on the house," she interrupted and actually winked at him before returning to her work.

Jace snorted next to him and muttered about Simon digging his own grave and _wasn't that ironic_ before grabbing his drinks and returning to the table where a few other people sat that Simon had never seen before. They definitely weren't Shadowhunters, that much he could tell by the lack of runes on their skin.

* * *

 

"Okay, I know this is gonna be a weird thing to ask and I actually didn't plan on asking it but...Jace mentioned that you and Raphael Santiago _had a thing_?" Maia mentioned with a tone as if she was talking about the weather, her fingers absently playing with a napkin on the table between them. Simon's eyes widened a little and he tried to stay relaxed while inwardly cursing Jace with the worst insults his brain could come up with.

"I have no idea why Jace thinks he has to suddenly stick his nose into my private business but, no, we did not have a _thing_. I was barely friends with Raphael before...before I screwed it up and now he hates me. So we would also never be a thing even if I wanted to - which, for the record, I do not want anyway!" It would be wiser for him to just shut up.

"Relax, I didn't mean anything by it. I was just surprised because you two seem completely different and it was hard imagining you two together," Maia chuckled and she seemed completely relaxed, not judgemental or as if she was trying to accuse him of anything. Simon breathed a small sigh of relief and smiled at Maia while filing away the fact that he definitely had to have a word with Jace because it was absolutely unacceptable for the guy to meddle in his private matters like this.

“Yeah, exactly! I don’t know where Jace got this weird idea. I don’t think Raphael and I have anything in common at all,” he huffed and shook his head before taking a sip of the slightly spiked blood Maia had brought him to the table. “He’s always so incredibly grumpy and seems like he’s married to his work.”

The young woman tilted her head in silent amusement, eyebrows climbing a little higher, and Simon felt that was a silent invitation to tell her a little more. He pushed back the thought that he tended to rant to people about the clan leader because that was not what was happening - he merely told someone about his struggles who would probably understand them better than anyone else.

“I’m pretty sure he always thought I’m incapable of taking care of myself because as soon as the sun went down he showed up in my room with a glass of blood as if I couldn’t get one on my own! And he always scolded me all the damn time during training which is why I skipped it more often than not because he’s a terrible teacher,” he complained with a frown.

“Well, it is important for you to learn about your new abilities,” Maia offered with barely contained laughter and she definitely didn’t seem to mind him venting a little. She definitely seemed more open to listening to him than Clary or Luke had ever been.

“I know but he never had any patience at all. He kicked me out a few times and told me to take a walk and then when I came back he scolded me for staying away for hours or for being back too close to sunrise.” Simon glared at the glass in his hand as if it was personally to blame for all of this.

“Sounds like he might have been worried. It is dangerous for you guys to wander the streets close to sunrise after all.”

Simon frowned and he couldn’t really imagine Raphael being worried about anyone, really, or at least not about him. The clan leader had always seemed annoyed about his presence.

“And if he’s really that terrible, why do you still feel so guilty about going behind the clan’s back? If you didn’t like it there anyway, it shouldn’t matter that much,” she mentioned cautiously and Simon couldn’t help but feel like she was trying to get at something but he didn’t stop to dwell on it, his eyes widening a little.

“Just because I didn’t feel at home in the clan doesn’t mean I can feel good about betraying them. Some of them got hurt during the whole ordeal - _Raphael_ got hurt - and in the end, all he ever did was trying to help me. Sure, he was a hardass about it but the only thing he ever did was help me. Even before I was turned. He actually scared me away from the hotel after the kidnapping, when I came back to the hotel because of all these weird symptoms I had. If it hadn’t been for him, I probably would’ve died that night already.”

Simon licked his lips and the more he thought about it, the clearer it became that he owed the clan leader so much. Not just because Raphael had tried to get him out of everything alive, despite having kidnapped him in the first place, but he had also taken Simon under his wing when he had no obligation in doing so. He had honestly never really thought about it this way. If Raphael did hate him, why would he have allowed him to stay in the hotel and decided to personally train him?

“I really don’t get what Raphael’s deal is most of the time. He always seemed annoyed by me but, thinking about it, he always tried to...protect me? And he even showed up after the betrayal and kind of kept on helping me - in a very passive aggressive way but still…”

Simon pushed his fingers through his hair and suddenly he felt like an even bigger asshole because all he ever did was complain about Raphael when in fact the clan leader had done so much for him without ever asking for a simple _thank you_ in return. Simon had never thanked Raphael for anything and he hadn’t even apologised for the betrayal but the clan leader had still shown up and, instead of going through with the kill order, had ended up helping him again.

“Are you really sure he hates you? Or that you hate him?”

“I don’t hate him!” The words fell from his lips before Simon could even think about them and with such conviction that it surprised not only Maia but himself as well. “Why would I hate him? He might be grumpy but all he ever did was try to help me in his own, admittedly weird way. And he has all the right to hate me because he trusted me and I...I betrayed him. Them. The clan.”

Simon ducked his head a little as if he could get away from the wave of guilt washing over him that way. He did feel terrible about his mistake, not just because it had led to Camille being set free. Now that Camille was captured and sent to the Clave, he did feel a little better but of course, that still hadn’t set anything right with the other vampires. The more he thought about it, the more Simon wished he had made a different decision and that he hadn’t betrayed the clan. Raphael, of all people, had not deserved this.

“Maybe you should talk to him? It seems like you two have some things to sort out and you definitely have to figure out what it is that you want,” Maia suggested softly and reached out, placing her warm hand on top of Simon’s pale, cold one. He glanced at their hands and then up at Maia’s face, his eyebrows drawing together into a frown.

“What do you mean _what I want_?”

“Do you want to keep living in the boathouse or do you want to be allowed back into the hotel and try to make it your home? Do you really want to go on dates with me or do you actually have feelings for Raphael? Because it seems like you do. As soon as his name came up you jumped on the topic and couldn’t stop talking about him,” she replied and there was still no hint of accusation in her voice or the gentleness of her touch.

“I don’t--” _I don’t have feelings for him._ The words sat on the tip of his tongue but he couldn’t quite bring himself to voice them. Simon’s eyes widened when he actually gave in to trying to imagine himself with Raphael because he didn’t feel like that was something he didn’t want. He had pushed away the part of himself that actually missed the clan leader, having him pop up out of nowhere to scare the shit out of him, making snarky comments, their casual touches, the way Raphael’s eyes sometimes seemed to soften around him and...just Raphael himself. His stupidly handsome face, impeccable choice of clothing, the way his kissable looking lips curled into a smirk to reveal his fangs and the sound of his silky voice.

“Oh shit,” Simon breathed when the realisation fully hit him that, fuck, he actually did have a crush on Raphael without noticing it. He had been so convinced to still be in love with Clary and that he absolutely wasn’t falling for a certain grumpy clan leader that he simply hadn’t understood the shift in his own feelings. And of course, he had to start realising his mistake during a date. Maia’s way of gently pointing it out without sounding accusing or teasing had actually prompted him to honestly think about it instead of getting all defensive about his maybe-there feelings. _Definitely-there feelings_ , Simon corrected himself.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t--I honestly didn’t realise. How could I not know?!” He reached up, intending to tug on his hair in frustration, but Maia caught his hand in hers and gently squeezed his fingers.

“Don’t worry about. Sometimes we don’t see what’s right in front of our face, don’t beat yourself up about it,” she smiled and Simon felt incredibly bad for asking this sweet, gorgeous girl on a date and then figure out he was already well on the way of falling in love with someone else. This was just his luck.

“I still feel like I led you on and you don’t deserve being treated like this,” Simon sighed but he squeezed Maia’s hand softly as well, enjoying the way her thumb brushed his fingers soothingly.

“You didn’t lead me on, stop worrying this pretty little head of yours about it. I’m pretty sure I will get over it and while it is indeed sad that such a cute guy is already in love with someone else, I’m glad you managed to figure it out and will hopefully do the right thing now.”

“I don’t even know what the right thing is. Is there even something like _a right thing to do_?? It’s not like I can just walk into the hotel and suggest Raphael to go on a date with me.”

Maia chuckled and used her free hand to push the glass with blood towards Simon, a silent prompt to take another sip and maybe calm his nerves a little.

“Maybe you should have a little more of a plan than that but generally...why not? At least it would immediately lead to you knowing if you have a chance with him and from what I’ve heard so far...I can imagine there is quite a high chance for him to have feelings for you as well.”

Simon felt a tiny bit overwhelmed by how much he wished for this to be true. He was still confused and shocked about realising that he had romantic feelings for Raphael but after everything that had happened, he still felt like he had to act immediately, make a decision about how to deal with this newfound realisation.

“It’s Valentine’s Day today. Why not get a present and surprise him with it?” Maia suggested with a small shrug after watching him gulp down the rest of his drink and licking the blood off his lips afterwards. “I think you mentioned once that you still wanted to apologise for what happened with Camille so maybe you could combine these things? Give him a present he may like and apologise, see how that goes and decide if asking him out is worth a shot.”

* * *

 

“This is absolutely crazy,” Simon muttered under his breath, free hand tugging at the collar of his shirt and he inwardly cursed Jace for popping up again because as soon as the guy had heard what was going on he had the most ridiculous suggestions. One of those was insisting that Simon opened the top buttons of his shirt - “It works just fine, not just on women” - and he felt increasingly uncomfortable with the thought of stepping in front of Raphael with what felt like half of his chest exposed.

He was just about to tug the present for Raphael under his arm in order to close the damn buttons on his shirt when the door of the hotel swung open in front of him and none other than the clan leader stared right into Simon’s very soul with his dark eyes. At least that was what it always felt like every time Raphael looked at him.

“What are you doing here?” Raphael’s voice sounded unusual guarded but not necessarily distant so Simon took it as a sign that he hopefully wasn’t completely unwelcome.

“Uhm, I--I came here to…this,” he stammered and basically trust the present against Raphael’s chest. Simon’s eyes widened and he realised that this was not how he was supposed to do it! He was supposed to apologise properly and then offer the present before, judging by Raphael’s reaction, he would decide if there was a chance to ask the other out. Of course, he didn’t do it in the right order and had to mess everything up from the get-go because of his nerves.

“What is this?” The clan leader questioned with a quirked eyebrow and he took the small box with the messily tied bow but instead of opening it, he looked at Simon quizzically, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

“A present, duh,” Simon replied and barely resisted the urge to facepalm, “for you. It’s...I wanted to apologise. For, you know, what happened. The whole thing with Camille. I don’t regret helping Clary but I definitely regret _how_ I did it. We should have found another way to get Jocelyn back.”

He almost flinched while mentioning the name of his best friend’s mother because her death was still so fresh on his mind, the loss an ever painful presence. She had been like a second mother to him and Simon missed her terribly, couldn’t even imagine how much worse it had to be for Clary. Okay, maybe he _could_ imagine because he had lost a parent as well but it had been different. He hadn’t seen his father’s death or found him dead so he probably couldn’t quite compare these two things.

“And you thought of that now because…?”

“I wanted to apologise ever since it happened. I just didn’t know how and at first I thought that if I dared to show my face around here, I would be killed.” Simon shrugged and he was still kind of scared to be in such a close proximity to the rest of the clan but he had to take this risk to show he was being serious. “I didn’t want to set Camille free and if I had known from the beginning that it would go this way, I would never have agreed. It was supposed to be about _talking_ to her, nothing more.”

He started to fidget a little, tug at the hem of his shirt, the sleeves of the jacket he technically didn’t even need because he couldn’t feel the cold wind anymore, and softly bit his bottom lip while looking anywhere that wasn’t Raphael’s face. The clan leader made a small noise in the back of his throat before surprising Simon by stepping aside.

“Come on in. I don’t feel like having this talk in passing,” he prompted the fledgeling and Simon hesitantly stepped into the hotel, part of him expecting other vampires to jump at him from the dark corners to capture him so he could be punished for what he had done. Nothing happened, though, and he simply followed Raphael with tentative steps up the stairs until they reached his office. Simon had honestly thought to never step a foot in there ever again and it was weirdly relieving to be wrong with this assumption.

“Why the present?” Raphael asked while sitting down on his couch, looking at Simon like he was trying to figure him out and maybe that was just what he was doing. The fledgeling sighed and sat down as well, keeping a reasonable between them even though now that he had realised his feelings he felt the unfamiliar urge to be closer to Raphael, to make some sort of physical contact.

“I thought a present to go with the apology couldn’t be the worst idea?” Simon offered and cringed inwardly because this was so obviously not the reason for the present. He really wished he would be better at lying so he could pretend this was actually only meant to go along with the apology and for...something more.

“You’re trying to tell me that it’s just a coincidence that you show up here one hour before the end of Valentine’s Day with a present for me? A present that consists of...heart shaped chocolates?” Raphael had opened the bow while speaking and opened the box, his eyebrows raising at the sight of the content.

Simon inwardly cursed Jace who had way too willingly offered to quickly organise a present for him to give the clan leader. He should have expected something like this. Sure, he had known there were chocolates in the box - with blood filling, of course - but he hadn’t known they were heart-shaped.

“Uh,” was his not very eloquent reply and Simon dropped his gaze to his intertwined hands in his lap, not quite sure what the hell he was supposed to say to this. This hadn’t exactly worked out as planned and now he was pretty much at a loss for words, nerves spiking again and the strong urge to turn tail rising in his chest. This had been a mistake!

“If you don’t want them, just throw them out. They’re filled with blood but...I don’t even know if you care for sweets even if you’re able to eat real food so,” Simon ended with a shrug and bit his bottom lip nervously, feeling like a complete moron for letting Maia and Jace convince him that this was a good idea. He should have apologised, sure, but the rest had been a dumb thing to even consider.

“I like chocolate.”

Simon carefully glanced at the leader who was staring at the box in his lap, a frown on his face and eyes narrowed. He didn’t know what to make of this expression and Simon was just about to open his mouth and suggest he should probably leave when Raphael took a heart-shaped piece of chocolate from the box and, after the briefest of hesitations, turn to offer it to Simon.

He was taken aback for a moment but unfroze quickly, reaching out to take the offered sweet, but Raphael shook his head and actually asked him to open his mouth. Simon knew if his heart would still be beating it would probably jump right out of his chest. He felt his cheeks warm up the tiniest bit and cleared his throat, about to wonder out loud what was going on but as soon as he opened his mouth Raphael took the chance to slip the sweet onto his tongue.

Simon’s eyes widened when the other’s fingers brushed his lips in the process and the piece of chocolate almost fell right back out of his mouth because it hung open for a moment too long. When he finally did snap his mouth shut, the chocolate was already melting - a lot slower than it usually would but the lack of body heat slowed down the process - and some of the blood inside was oozing out a few seconds later. The coppery taste of the blood was absolutely weird in combination with the sweet chocolate but Simon was surprised to find out that he did like it quite a lot.

“I didn’t expect this to actually taste this good,” he muttered, cheeks still slightly rosy and eyes not quite daring to meet Raphael’s, even when the clan leader huffed out a soft laugh and Simon decided right there and then that Raphael’s laugh was one of the best sounds he had ever heard - it made him long to hear the other’s real, unrestrained laughter.

“Would you go out with me?” Simon’s eyes widened when the words tumbled from his chocolate and blood coated tongue without his approval. He was shocked to just have blurted this out but it was even more shocking when Raphael actually agreed, albeit hesitantly. Simon knew he still had a lot to make up to the clan leader and that he also had to apologise to the rest of the clan if he ever wanted a chance at being allowed to move back into the hotel but, with Raphael actually smiling at him before eating a piece of the sweets as well, he finally knew that this was indeed what he wanted. The Dumort hadn’t felt like a home to him before but Simon could finally imagine it becoming his home in the future and he was more than willing to earn his place in the clan back, to be worthy of being by Raphael’s side as hopefully more than just his advisor.


End file.
